Southeast Asia

New Military Bloc – New Threats to Peace and Security in Asia

In September 2021 it was announced that in the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions emerged a new military bloc composed of Australia, the United States and Britain. This event caused a resounding international response, marking a milestone in the ongoing restructuring of international relations.   Many analysts saw the new military bloc as a prototype of an […]

US Weaponizes UN for Regime Change in Myanmar

When the United Nations through its online news portal claims one of its experts sees the situation in Myanmar “failing” and urging measures to save the country from its current, ongoing conflict, many might take it at face value. The article would claim: According to Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, since its power grab and overthrow […]

Laos: From Landlocked to High-Speed Rail-Linked

For anyone who travelled through the rugged landlocked Southeast Asian country of Laos years ago, they will remember the twisting mountain roads and the many days by bus it would take to traverse the terrain from China’s border with Laos at Boten to the Laotian capital of Vietniane across the Mekong River from Thailand’s city […]

US Sanctions Cambodian Leaders Amid US-China Rivalry

The Southeast Asian country of Cambodia, inhabited by 16 million people, and still recovering from the decades of turmoil that surrounded America’s war with Vietnam, finds itself once again targeted by the US for standing in the way of Washington’s regional ambitions.  At first glance by ordinary readers, the Radio Free Asia (RFA) article, “US […]

Russian-Indonesian Relations Grow Stronger Amid Geopolitical Instability

Indonesia, a country of 270 million people and ASEAN’s largest economy, is actively involved in the affairs of Southeast Asia and seeks to maintain peace, stability and economic development in the region for its own security and to accelerate its economic growth. For its part, the Russian Federation, whose foreign policy objectives include strengthening its […]

The IAEA’s “Western Policy” on Iran

The mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in connection with Iran’s nuclear activities is strictly limited to technical issues and highly confidential, however the political exploitation of the issue is carried on by certain Western powers in stark contradiction with the principles of independence, impartiality, and professionalism that the the Agency is supposed […]

US-Singapore Relations: Being of Use vs. Being Used

The tiny Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore serves as a sort of bellwether for a multitude of trends from economics to geopolitics. The Singaporean government is able to quickly and flexibly adapt to changing trends, more so than anywhere else, because of its small size – an advantage that Singapore enjoys and which compensates for […]

US Vice President Kamala Harris Visits Singapore and Vietnam

A visit to Singapore and Vietnam on August 22-26 by US Vice President Kamala Harris is further evidence of the growing urgency of the situation in Southeast Asia at the current stage of the “Great World Game”. Even though the Afghan problem remains at the top of the public political agenda, which, in the author’s […]

US vs. China: Where does Vietnam Stand?

As tensions continue to mount between Washington and Beijing, examples continue to abound comparing and contrasting the approaches used by both global powers regarding foreign policy. Another recent example on stark display is the US and China’s respective approaches to Vietnam – a nation both countries have had rocky and even hostile relations with in […]

Mekong-US Partnership: Promoting Poverty, Driving Sinophobic Hostility

It’s no secret that the US is engaged in heated competition with China and openly aspires to “contain” China’s rise as a global power and its otherwise inevitable surpassing of US primacy. It should by now also be no secret that in order to do this, Washington has attempted to recruit China’s neighbours into various […]